The source material for author Beth Lowrys 2016 true crime book Who Killed These Girls?, the yogurt shop murders continue to haunt the citizens of the Lone Star State. Here is a brief summary of some of the murders which have occurred in Jasper and Newton County in the last quarter of a century. Shorter, AL. 6 The Burger Chef Murders. They cared, and tried their very hardest. A woman who has been in prison for more than 30 years in the kidnapping of a young Jasper lawyer, whose body has never been found, has again been denied parole. On Sept. 19, 2005, Melvin Keeling, 43, Loveland, Ohio, shot and killed Family Express employees Lisa Kendall, 29, and Kendora Furr, 38, at the gas station, located on U.S. 24 and Interstate 65. Family members of McPherson have said they know Karen Lancaster McPherson did wrong, but said they feel shes been punished enough. If you are a current print subscriber, you can set up a free website account and connect your subscription to it by clicking here. She had recently graduated from the University of Alabama law school. 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. CHICAGO (CBS) -- A mob gambling operator "was taken for a ride" and lived to tell about it. Now. My uncle called me, and then my dad got on the phone and told me that Carrie had been kidnapped," Carrie's older sister recalled. November 20, 2020 / 6:33 AM Looks like they had a party. Fear and not wanting to get involved are perhaps the primary reasons why the murders remain a mystery. Email all inquiries to me at ryan.phillips@patch.com. All rights reserved. You didn't want to hear it, but you appreciated it.". Indeed, believe it or not, American citizens are currently living in a time of unprecedented peace.[1]. I was a problem child as I was coming up, and you know got in trouble and things of that nature, he said, I met this guy and he told me, he said You know, you need to be part of the solution and not the problem and thats pretty much what changed my life., My cousin Sean Jones, he went missing February 18, 1999, he said, And 2017, on the same exact day my first cousin, Darnell Williams, he was murdered on Hilton Head Island. Mitchell added, Just like any other family we want justice.. Barker worked for the large corporation Bell and Howell. He told me to get on the ground on my stomach. Cold Case toll-free hotline number: (866) 419-1236. YouTubes privacy policy is available here and YouTubes terms of service is available here. First of all, Sheriff Perry Johnson told the press that the scene inside of the Hair Gallery was horrific and that all three victims throats had been cut deeply. Cookie Settings/Do Not Sell My Personal Information. They were still missing a definitive link, until a cassette tape was found -- reportedly by a young boy at an apartment complex who turned them over to his father -- that had recordings of plans to kidnap Jasper businessman and coal executive Ellis Taylor. "He had duct tape and told Carrie to duct tape my hands behind my back. Use at your own risk. If you know anything about these persons, or their last known locations, please call 205-302-6464. The intensity lasted for about six weeks, but ultimately the FBI and other agencies pulled out. More horrific still was the fact that Elaine had been pregnant at the time of her death. ", "That doesn't happen to people. If you had told me that moment that I'd have the kind of life I have now, I would have never believed it. Paul Burch said on the show that Jones told investigators he needed to tell them about a hairdresser he had abducted at knife-point from a Georgia salon, drawing diagrams of where his and her cars were. The couple got dressed and jumped into their Ford Explorer parked in the carport. . Get the Android Weather app from Google Play, Gallery: Habitat for Humanitys Three House Dedications, Georgia lawmakers hope to prevent gun violence, Man accused of killing 66-year-old enters not guilty, St. Patricks Day shuttle: Tanger Outlets to Savannah, Storm Team 3 Storm Tracker with Your Local Ford Dealers, Kaleidoscope Circus free and open to the public. In 1894 in Linn County, four members of the Meeks family (Gus, Delora, Hattie and Mary) were brutally murdered by George and William Taylor, wealthy citizens of northeast Missouri. The murder of the 38-year-old mother is profiled in an episode of Netflixs reboot of the classic Unsolved Mysteries that points to Alabama Death Row inmate Jeremy Bryan Jones as a possible suspect. They received a middle-of-the night call from a woman claiming to be a nurse who said a close family member was at the hospital. ", "What has been taken from me personally is immeasurable," said Carrie's sister, Margaret Smith Kubiszyn. According to a story written by reporter Wendy Reeves and published in the Tuscaloosa News the day after the shooting, Jowers was shot in the head while walking a girlfriend to her car in the parking lot of Classics Lounge at 613 37th Street between 2:10-2:15 a.m. Twenty-four-year-old Robert Bruce Springsteen and 25-year-old Michael James Scott were the only two to go to trial, and both men were convicted on flimsy DNA evidence. Barker lived somewhere nearby at the time of the murders but was known to frequently spend his nights with his two close friends at the house on LaSalle Street. |, Powered by Creative Circle Media Solutions. "He'd never met her, but he loved her.". "I can still see the driveway. In a sick twist of fate, police learned early on that the witness who found the first body may have arrived at the scene barely minutes after the murders. document.write ("?zoneid="+zoneid+"&block=1&blockcampaign=1"); And when Bland killed himself, state charges were being sought because Carrie had not been taken across state lines, which would have constituted a federal crime, they said. Anyone with information about Endres murder is asked to call the Georgia Bureau of Investigation or go to unsolved.com. These three would be overpowered and shot dead by the gunmen. E, was pronounced dead at the scene by Tuscaloosa Police. He doesn't talk about Carrie or the case much, but said not a day goes by when he doesn't think about the kindness shown to him and his and Carrie's families. This would prompt an investigation that has yet to see a single suspect charged with the murder. After asking Senac to retrieve $5,000 from the bowling alleys safe, the gunmen shot all four several times. If you have any information on an unsolved murder, you can make an anonymous phone call to the LowcountryCrimeStoppers at 843-554-1111. Jones raped and shot Nichols, then set fire to Nichols Turnerville area home. The first discovery was a vehicle belonging to one of the abducted four. "And her lawyers called that night and said she was taking her story back. "We were all in the kitchen discussing what needed to be done with Jerry Bland. The victim's vehicle was found partially submerged in the Tennessee River. She said she had a family that loved her very much. Whited, 53, of Trinity, was charged with murder after providing details that matched evidence and information collected after Dailey's death, police said in a statement. Some of the cases remain unsolved. 1998 - 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. | All Rights Reserved. When Lawson Sr. arrived at the site, however, there were about five police cars there totally unconnected to the kidnapping case, purely a coincidence. If your interested in cold cases, you may find yourself wondering about how many unsolved murders in US a year. YouTubes privacy policy is available here and YouTubes terms of service is available here. Hell talk about killing a person like its a 10-point buck.. Keith (his preferred name) was not one to skip work, so his supervisor first called Keiths parents. Lawson said much of those first few months after Carrie's disappearance and Bland's suicide is a blur. Karen McPherson, now 60, is. A woman who has been in prison for more than 30 years in the kidnapping of a young Jasper lawyer, whose body has never been found, has again been denied parole. Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement, Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement, and Your Privacy Choices and Rights (each updated 1/26/2023). But it was a ruse. (Ron Colquitt). Authorities remove the body of Jerry Bland from his Jasper home on Oct. 1, 1991 after he committed suicide while FBI agents surrounded his home. //]]>-->, Copyright 2023, Cleveland Newspapers, Inc., operating as the Daily Mountain Eagle. Bland, once successful in businesses of coal mining and land reclamation, had fallen on hard times and was desperate for money, according to investigators and family members. The Smith family also has long thought there were more than Bland and McPherson involved, as does McPherson's family. But it wasn't one of our shining successes. The case file on Brown remains what it . "I think we found five dead bodies searching for Carrie, and certainly we found people who would kill somebody for a couple of hundred dollars. It turned out to be anything but cut-and-dry. To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com. All rights reserved (About Us). If you use a windshield cover, you can at least forget about scrapping the ice off your windshield to save some time and hassle. Read More: I always felt like he had this deep-seated feeling that he failed Carrie because he couldn't protect her," she said. var m3_u = (location.protocol=='https:'? Discuss Jasper, Alabama (AL) on our hugely popular Alabama forum. The FBI, usually tight-lipped, staunchly defended their actions in an interview with The Birmingham News. "Nobody's ever come up with a reason.". Lawson has since remarried, has three children and continues to work as an attorney. "And when we woke up the next morning, he was dead. The next to die were Cliff, Jimmie, and Debbie. There were psychics, and more inmates looking for a way out of lockup for a day, but never any success in finding Carrie's remains. 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